Awards commend the best new nurses

Five Northumbria University students have been presented with a prestigious award for their efforts while training to become nurses and midwives in local hospitals.

The Heath Award is presented annually to graduating nursing and midwifery students from Northumbria University who have excelled in both practice and theory.

 This year’s recipients are learning disability nurse Adrian Anim from Newcastle, children’s nurse Katy Forster from Northumberland, adult nurses Maya Gorton and Karl Lowther, from Newcastle and North Tyneside respectively and mental health nurse Elizabeth Nicholson from County Durham.

The Heath Awards were bequested by George Yeoman Heath MC, DCL, FRCS – a surgeon and teacher who was President of the College of Medicine in Newcastle, and the first Professor of Surgery to the University Of Durham College Of Medicine in Newcastle.  He died in 1892 and left a legacy to award annual prizes for outstanding nurses in Newcastle hospitals.  

The student nurses were selected by seven trustees, who considered their academic grades and supporting letters from course tutors, hospital staff and patients who they worked with while on placement.

Principal Lecturer Michael McGovern said: “They are all excellent students, both clinically and in their academic work. Their work was consistent across the three years of the course and they truly deserve this award.”

Adrian Anim, who now works as a Learning Disability Nurse at South Tyneside ,said: “I’m absolutely delighted to win such a prestigious award. When I first heard I didn’t believe it and I am totally humbled to receive it. I really enjoyed my experience at Northumbria University. I initially found it very challenging but also very rewarding and I’ve met some excellent clinical staff along the way.”

Ann Mott, Academic Head for Post Qualifying and Post Graduate Studies at Northumbria University, said: “I think that in the rapidly changing health care climate, the fact that these nurses have achieved such a high standard means that nursing is alive and well and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.”

The awards ceremony took place at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. The students were presented with their awards by Pat Bottrill MBE, FRCN, a retired senior nurse and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing.